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PlayStation Classic: an ode to old-school gaming

I’m not a particular superstitious person. I might leave new shoes on the table, not think twice about a black cat crossing my path, and wouldn’t walk under a ladder for health and safety more than for fear of having a curse placed on me. However, there’s a small part of me that believes that everything happens for a reason; just last night, my friends and I were talking about the good ol’ days. All being in our mid-20s, these would be 10 to 15 years ago or so, which seems a blink to those normally wearing the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia and who use the phrase “the good ol’ days.” These were the days when local multiplayer was the only multiplayer; when the only way that you could let your friends know about your achievements was by bragging about them in the playground the next day; when Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon were kings. So the news that Sony are releasing a PlayStation Classic at the end of this year, a mini model of the iconic grey box with 20 preloaded games and two original controllers, leads me to believe that my theory is true and Sony are more than willing to appease the fanbase they cultivated nearly more than two decades ago with their marvellous invention.

Originally a project developed by Sony with Nintendo as a CD-ROM attachment for Nintendo’s console, Sony would go on to develop it independently after Nintendo cancelled the deal to work with Philips. This lead to the PlayStation being developed and becoming the first console to sell over 100 million units, nearly outselling the SNES and NES combined and only being outsold in the home console market by its next of kin, the PlayStation 2. So remember when your parents told you to get off your “Nintendo PlayStation”? It turns out that they were close to the truth than you thought…

Using the power of probability, I can deduce that you probably owned a PlayStation. For so many people, it was an introduction to gaming at home, and it was incredibly exciting. Hot and fancy 3D fighting games such as Tekken were suddenly available to play in your living room with endless credits. People were discovering how to be edgy and rebellious when they played Tony Hawk’s UnderGround. Crash Bandicoot was changing the 3D platformer one controller angrily being snapped in half at a time.

The PlayStation was the exciting new platform that people wanted to make games for; it was the perfect platform for Metal Gear Solid, a game that stunned people with its cinematic style and obsessive attention to detail. I’ll always remember the time that I was stunned/amazed/frustrated when my footprints in the snow were noticed by a guard. Horror crept its way onto home consoles thanks to the PlayStation as well: Resident Evil and Silent Hill both became instant classics and survival and psychological horror has thrived on consoles ever since.

Sony is reminding everyone of their rich legacy in modern gaming; something that is still very much with us today. While Nintendo and Sega both have mini versions of their consoles, they’re much more antiquated than the PlayStation. Sega don’t make consoles anymore, and Nintendo’s modern consoles are now a far cry from their ancestors. The PlayStation’s impact on gaming still resonates today. The controller design has remained unchanged, and the PlayStation 4 is still a great platform for aspiring develops and boast more console exclusive than its rival Xbox.

via reddit user u/KevlarYarmulke

Crash Bandicoot and Spyro are getting glistening remasters so it’s probably unlikely that they’ll make an appearance in the primordial polygonal format, but there’s definitely hope for the other games that I’ve mentioned. With Final Fantasy VII and Tekken 3 being confirmed, we can hope that a range of classics will be added. Some might see this as cashing on people’s nostalgia. Well, this is because nostalgia sells, and in buckets loads as well. Just look at how successful every remaster and rereleases has been for many systems, from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask on the 3DS to the Resident Evil remakes on everything from the Gamecube to your fridge*. Honestly, it’s a great way to reconnect with the roots of the most ground-breaking games console ever. It would be great to see titles like Metal Gear Solid and Crash Team Racing on the little beauty. I’m sure that Sony won’t let us down; it would be difficult for them to screw this up now!

*Resident Evil has not yet officially released on any fridge that we know of. If you can play on your fridge, please let us know what 3018 is like.

What do you think of the PlayStation Classic? Will you be wishing for one for Christmas, or will you be giving it a pass? Let us know!

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JoeTooSlow

Fuelled by black coffee and a hatred for lootboxes, Joe has come a long way since his earliest memory of video games; watching over a friend’s shoulder while he played Gex: Enter the Gecko.
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